The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Disanthus cercidifolius Maximowicz which was discovered as a chance seedling (natural mutation) in a controlled planting (of seedlings) by Mr. Seiju Yamaguchi, Ashimata, Okute-cho, Mizunami-shi, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The varietal denomination of the new variety is xe2x80x98SEIJU YAMAGUCHIxe2x80x99.
The genus Disanthus is included in the family Hamamelidaceae, which comprises about 28 genera and 90 species of deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs growing in the northern and southern hemispheres. Disanthus is a monotypic genus comprised of 1 species, native to Japan and China. It is a broad-spreading deciduous shrub with good ornamental features. It generally has alternate, simple, glabrous, entire, broad-ovate to orbicular, base cordate to subcordate leaves with a rounded to obtuse or acute apex, 5 to 11 cm long, 5 to 11 cm wide, with a petiole 3 to 5 cm long, palmately veined.
The new variety was discovered as a seedling in a controlled garden and differs from its parent in having striking variegated foliage. Irregular cream and cream-yellow margins surround greyed-silver bluish-green centers of the leaf, splashed occasionally with cream color. Asexual reproduction of the new variety by grafting in Gifu Prefecture, Japan has confirmed that the distinctive characteristics of the new variety are stable and transmitted to succeeding generations.